She Woke Up
by Samonochrome
Summary: Claudia wakes up in the land of the dead and fears her death will go unjustified and her killer will walk free. Determined to let her family know the truth of her murder, she sets out to find a way to visit the land of the living. She will meet new friends along the way and ignore the dangers of breaking the rules of the dead. T for language and the murder most foul(also mini ship)
1. Chapter 1

She woke up

Usually when I wake up I feel groggy and more tired than I should be after sleeping for more than eight hours. But this…I felt odd. And not odd as in I slept somewhere unfamiliar or sick or something. Instead I felt nothing. No warmth, no cold, no air from my ceiling fan, and my dog Douglas was absent from my side. What was this?

I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was a dirty grey ceiling. That wasn't right. I rubbed my eyes with my arm to wake myself up and get out of bed. Only I wasn't even in a bed to begin with!

"What the hell?" I hoarsely said as I looked around to see I was laying on a wooden plank ground with feet scuffling about. Did I pass out at a party or something?

"Oy! The new arrival is awake!" someone shouted.

"New arrival? I didn't see her earlier!"

"Whata gem! She's got pretty eyes."

"Such a shame, so young to be down here."

I was suddenly yanked to my feet by two sets of hands pulling my arms and taking me to a wooden counter. I was already a tad dazed when I woke up but to be dragged so fast made me dizzy.

"Get her an arsenic Jim! A half should do it."

My head shot up, "Arsenic!? Why would I drink that…" My train of thought came to a sudden halt when I finally laid my eyes upon the man who ordered the unusual drink for me. He was a deathly pale blue with bulging grey eyes. Those eyes had no light…no shimmer of life what so ever yet they looked at me with intelligence. On the top of his head where his scalp should have been was a gaping hole revealing a shattered skull. My scream was cut short when a foaming mug was presented to me by the hand of a skeleton.

"Here ya are love. This will bounce ya right back!" The skeleton said from behind the counter.

I couldn't speak. I couldn't move I was so frozen with terror of what stood before me. Without thinking I grabbed the mug and downed the beverage whole not even knowing what I consumed. I pulled it away and gasped for air only to drop the mug with a jolt. I couldn't breathe! I tried to suck air into my lungs with my nostrils but nothing filled them. I opened my mouth and tried gasping but nothing happened! I felt like a fish out of water as I tried to suck air into my body but nothing would happen. I didn't feel anything but the slight warmth of the beverage sitting in my stomach.

"Hey calm down girlie. You'll get used to this. Just give it some time." The man with the open skull said to me as he toke a sip from his own mug. I continued to stare and gape at the sight of the blue man. It didn't take me long to explore the rest of the place around me as my eyes caught the sight of another blue person walking around the counter to a group of people at a pool table.

I spun on my feet and leaned against the counter as I saw everyone around me was just like the man beside me, they were all deathly blue like corpses!

I finally screamed.

"What's going on over here!?" A woman came up to the counter and saw me crumble to the floor with my head buried in my folded arms. The woman sighed and rolled her lifeless eyes before shooing off the man who helped me up. "Honestly Joe you know better than to make a new arrival have a drink before learning what has become of her!"

"I thought a drink would help ease her in Margie!" He shrugged sheepishly.

Margie shooed him off and knelt beside me, taking on a more motherly tone than before. "Hello darling, there's nothing to be afraid of. No one will hurt you. Not anymore."

"W-what do you mean?" I was surprised hearing the sound of my own voice. It felt different. The woman, Margie, was deathly pale but appeared more normal save for the loss of hair on her scalp and no skin on her fingers. "I wish there was an easier way of saying this darling. But I'm afraid his is how it goes."

I felt like my throat should have formed a lump but there was no moisture in my mouth to do so. Then she said it, "Your dead now, honey."

"I'm…what? Dead? No that's not possible I'm here aren't I?"

A different man sitting further down the counter cackled with laughter, "If you're here then you are as good as dead sweet cheeks!"

"Zip it Fred or I'm throwing your bones out!" Margie threatened. She then turned back to me with a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry to tell you this hon but that's how it is here. You're dead if you're down here."

"But I don't understand…I got up and went to school yesterday and then to work right after. Yes…and then my friend and I decided to go to the movies for a late showing." I got to me feet as I tried to remember the part when I got home and went to bed. But that didn't happen…

It all came back to me now. "…We finished the movie. She got in her car and drove away while I walked to my car that was further down. There was a man…yes, a tall skinny man." By this point the majority of the pale people were looking at me and waiting to go on with my horrible story of how I came to be here. I started to shake with fright, "He asked me for a ride but I kept going and he followed me. Before I could do anything he grabbed me and I fought him but then he…he…"

It all came crashing in at once. Margie was right. I am dead and I remember dying. "He stabbed me…three times in my…oh my god." I looked down and saw the hole in my blouse and my pale skin penetrated by something sharp. I shakily moved my hand down to the side of my stomach and pulled out the small silver handle of a switch blade that was embedded. It didn't hurt when I pulled it out like I thought it would but it felt so empty without the blade in there, as horrendous as it sounded.

"He left his switch blade in me! And before it went dark he stole my purse and car keys! That ass hole killed me for $10 and a beat up truck!" I screamed as I slammed my fist onto the counter of the bar. I used the switch blade to stab the wooden surface with rage and tried to breathe in but couldn't because I was dead. Dead people didn't need air. "I'm truly dead…how could this happen? Why would this happen!? I didn't do anything to him!"

"There, there darling. The pain never really goes away, I'll be honest, but you will eventually learn to move on." Margie patted my back with reassurance.

"Yeah it will turn out alright! Why take our old buddy Lawrence, he's been dead for nearly thirty years and he finally moved on just last week. Better place that one went!" A man with no eyes in his sockets said from the pool table he was playing at.

"Moved on?" I said.

"Well you just got here darling. It will take a while to understand how this here afterlife works. But it won't be so bad! You always have a friend here at the Nail n' Coffin." Margie nodded to me and left to go around the counter to fix a different drink. I looked around the bar and noticed the whole room looked a tad western and there was wood everything everywhere. Wooden tables, chairs, piano, and counters. It all looked like a coffin alright. Aside the dusty place, the dead people seemed to act normal. They played poker like normal people even if they were mostly skeleton, some played pool, others sat at tables drinking with their friends, and then there was me. Me leaning against the bar counter with my mouth agape having the worst time trying to wrap my head around the fact I was dead. I am no different from these people around me for I was dead as well and probably looked just as bad.

"What's your name darling?" Margie suddenly said as she presented a new mug for me to have.

I toke the mug and tried to blow away the steam but nothing happened. I forgot I had no air to give or take anymore. "Um…it's Claudia."

"What a lovely name. My name is Margie and if you ever need anything please let me know."

I nodded as I toke another sip and felt my inside grow heat and then vanish as quickly as it came. I sighed tiredly, "Um, Margie?"

"Yes hon?"

"How does this work? What happens to me now?"

Margie gave me the smallest of smiles, "Well for now you should take it all in, your death I mean. And the best place to do so is your grave or the place you died."

"My grave? I was buried already!?" I got to me feet. Geez my family didn't take their time on this one. I mean I get I haven't called home in a while but to stick me six feet under the day after I was murdered seems too cold hearted, and I'm the dead one!

Margie shook her head, "No darling you have been dead for a few days now, your body has been put to rest just now and that's why you arrived."

"I'm not sure I'm following this?" I said.

"I'll give it to her straight." The man that had laughed at me earlier toke a swig of his beverage and walked over to me. "When someone dies their soul is trapped within their own bodies without rest. Until the body is buried will they arrive in some place like this here bar. It's sort of like a meeting place for the dead in ever cemetery or burial."

"What if the body isn't buried?"

"Then they are fucked. Stuck to rot away inside their own corpse. Luckily that never really happens for a corpse doesn't smell pretty and people tend to bury the bodies when it comes to murder."

I shuttered at the word. Murder. I can't believe this is how I went. I always assumed I would die either from some disease like my aunt or old age but I was twenty four for god's sake. I wasn't old enough to rent a car and my life was taken away from me just like that. I'm alive and living and now I'm down here drinking what looks like poison and talking to other dead people who look like they have been dead much longer than I have. I fiddled with the switch blade that was still in my hand and began to grow anxious for some weird reason. I don't know why for the life of me…or the death of me whatever, but I had the urge to put the switch blade back into my side where I had pulled it out.

"Ah, is that the weapon that brought down your inevitable doom?" the scruffy skeleton man said. I nodded. "Well you can go on and put that back where you pulled it out."

"Why would I do that?" I demanded.

The man smiled, "Your body died with that knife in ya. A piece of your soul is gone and that knife was what replaced it for that moment you died."

"Death is so complicated." I sighed tiredly as I shoved the switch blade back in-between my lower rips. The anxious feeling went away as soon as I dug it in place. It was then I noticed one hole was punctured above my stomach and the another was right in my shoulder blade. I groaned in anger, "I hope that asshole was caught and locked away for life. Death is truly too good for him if he were to just wind up down here and have a beer." I threw a chair back and sat in it angrily as I downed my drink and felt my tasteless tongue tingle from the beverage.

"And what is with this stuff!? I can't taste, feel, or smell yet I get weird sensations from this!"

The man cackled, "Its poison darlin. The things that kill ya up there can make us feel down here."

"Do we need to eat?"

"Not at all. But it's the closest to feeling something isn't it? When you get a chance try Cyanide with a splash of arsenic and you will feel your body tingle all over with this radiation of heat! Ha ha! Its quite the buzz." He patted me on the back.

I nodded and looked down at my mug and saw that the label on the side assured me I was indeed drinking strychnine. It is a very toxic poison you could pick up at a local hardware store to feed to pesky rodents. And for dead people to consume as well I guess.

"So. Where is this grave of mine? I think I'd like to crawl into the hole they dug for me now." I sighed as I tried to get the last few drops of the poison from my mug just so I can feel the tingle on my tongue. So I can feel SOMETHING even for a moment.

"From the looks of the obituary, your about two blocks down from here. Not too shabby I say." Margie said as she skimmed through a wrinkled black and white newspaper. I looked up to see the front page head line said "Possible cemetery move?" and a picture of the St. Marys cemetery that was a few miles away from where I lived when I was alive.

"Is that where I'm buried? St. Mary's?"

"That's where we are all buried honey. We are right under it." Margie corrected.

My eyes widened as I finally understood how this worked a little better. When we die we don't 'wake up' right after. We wake up when we are buried and put to rest and end up in a place where you can meet a bunch of other dead people to welcome you to the afterlife. I felt a tad better seeing that I'm picking this up, but I'm still dead and nothing could change that.

"Would you like me to walk you to your grave darlin?" the man said.

I shook my head as I got to my feet, "No I should be fine. I mean…what could happen right? I was stabbed to death so there's nothing to worry about anymore." I knew I sounded rude and sarcastic but how could I not feel this way after what happened to me? I opened the wooden doors and stepped out of the bar for the first time and was stunned by what I saw. Everything wasn't drab or grey or dirty like I assumed it would be. There were buildings with similar architecture as the old buildings from above ground and were pretty well kept. There was flowers everywhere and people, all dead and decayed, walking about talking and laughing as if this was all normal. I started down the stone road in the direction Margie had said my grave was and I hugged myself as I saw the world around me. There were a lot more children here then I was comfortable seeing. Why were there so many kids here? They were supposed to grow up and live their lives to determine whether they died young or of age. Not when they can't even spell their own names.

"Excuse me mam?" a boy suddenly called out to me from across the street. I turned to see a small boy wearing pajamas and was pale with an IV still stuck to his arm waving at me.

I hesitantly waved back. He smiled, "Are you new? I've never seen you before! Do you want to play?"

I smiled sadly and shook my head, "Maybe another time kid. I'm not feeling up to it."

"But we don't feel anything!"

I chuckled, "Yeah. We don't do we?" unless you get addicted to drinking poison which I assume is the equivalent of being an alcoholic. "Another time ok buddy." I waved off the boy, trying to not stare at the IV needle imbedded in his arm.

I continued to walk straight until I saw a fairly sized building with my name written on the black mailbox just outside the chipped picket fence. I began to remember that the St. Mary's church had old white picket fences surrounding their gardens just like it. The building was a weird build of half wood and half cement and there were roots climbing down instead of up. I looked to the sky and instead of night I saw nothing but black. It was as if there was an abyss looming over this strange world and it made me shiver strangely enough. I pushed the white picket door and started up the stone path and saw there was a skeleton key already sitting in the wooden doors lock waiting for me. I turned it till I heard a faint 'click' and pushed the creaky door open. What was inside surprised me.

The room was obviously the sitting room and it was complete with one old red plush sofa and armchair with cobwebs and an out dated fire placed. The other room down a short hallway was a kitchen that looked like it hasn't been touched since the 1950's. From the appliances to the weird pastel green wall paper it looked like it came out of an 'I Love Lucy' sitcom mixed with some Adams family what with the cobwebs and dead flowers. I went back into the hallway and saw at the end there was a creaky wooden stair case the lead to the second floor. I climbed the stair nervously and reached the top to see a red chipped wooden door. There was nothing to fear anymore for I was good as dead but for some odd reason I worried for what was of the other side. Hesitantly, I turned the gold knob and pushed the door in. What I saw nearly made me double over with a wave of emotions I couldn't comprehend. It was a large bedroom with one creaky twin bed made with simple pale pink sheets. But what shook me to my dead core was the explosion of flowers placed all over the room along with candles, letters, stuffed animals, and photographs. I knew the moment I saw it all that this wasn't all a part of the room that came with this grave. I got to my knees and scavenged through the piles of flowers and pulled out a stack of letters that were scattered below.

"Claudia Reed, we never really spoke in class but I always thought you were a great person and its heart breaking to know that you will no longer be with us. I pray you're in a better place. Your class mate and friend, Rachael Troy." I bit my lip in confusion. I never thought Rachael from my theatre class considered me a friend. Then again she might have written me this just to pay respects. We never had any ill will towards each other but we never spoke either. Odd. I decided to read through the other letters and found that they were written by most of my class mates or people I went to school with but never met or talked to. This was all probably something the school encouraged to do just to pay respects to a university student who passed of under unfortunate circumstances. I mean, I've seen it all the time on the news when I was alive. It was always so sad, a girl or guy would be found dead near the school or over spring break and the university would hold a memorial in their memory. I still can't believe that I am one of them now.

I stood to my feet and stepped over the piles of flowers to climb into my bed. I continued to read through the notes and letters but eventually found it repetitive for they all said the same thing.

"I hope you're in a better place."

"I'm sorry this happened to you."

"You will be missed."

"Blah blah blah blah BLAH." I said as I threw the letters across my twin bed and watched them scatter to the ground on top of the piles of roses and lilies. I leaned back on my creaky bed and closed my eyes. Darkness. Something I thought death would be like but instead it's like pretending to live again only you can't feel anything but the emotions that bubble up deep inside you.

"So this is it. This is how it's going to be now. My hopes and dreams are gone and will be here doing who knows what for the rest of my undead life." I rolled to my side and was about to drift off when I noticed more letter were stack on my wooden night stand next to a candle. I sat up and grabbed the envelopes. These weren't pity notes, these were my families.

The first letter belonged to my mother and I felt myself shaking with fear of what it might say. Slowly I opened it and read aloud, "Words cannot describe the pain a mother feels when she loses her child. It was never meant to be this way. I was ready to see you grow up and become an actress like you always dreamed of being. I was ready to see you perform in shows and be in movies and hear your speeches at award shows when you thank me and your father. I was ready to pass on first and wait for you in heaven but it seems fate had other plans. What happened to you was unforgivable and this anger will never leave me for as long as I live. But my love for you will never change and there will never be a day that goes by when I don't think of you Claudia. I will see you someday sweet heart. I know you will be watching over us from heaven. I love you always, Mom."

By the end I scared myself when I saw water splash onto the corner of the letter and looked up to see if the ceiling was leaking but there was nothing. I touched my face and gasped when I realized I was crying. The dead can cry.

"My god…what is this place? It doesn't make sense!" I hugged the letter to myself and cried, only to learn a few tears would fall and I couldn't really cry or sob to let it all out. There was only a few tears to shed and I had used them up for now. I lied back down and closed my eyes once again. There were three other letters but I was too emotionally drained to continue reading. For the sake of making the best out of this horrible situation I tried to be humorous and crossed my arms over my chest like a mummy. It wasn't anything but I had always responded to scary situations with sarcasm or humor.

Perhaps tomorrow would be a better day. I will finish reading my letters, sort these flowers out, and learn what I could do in this world for the rest of my time here waiting for who knows what to happen. Will I be judged to move on to heaven or hell? Or will I wait until my family gets here? Or is this it? No matter what I thought the answers were still scary. Either way I will be alone in death for a very long time.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is how it goes**

My eyes opened and at first I couldn't comprehend where I was until the sight of roses and lilies brought me back to reality. Sighing, I sat up and rubbed my eyes mainly out of habit and rolled out of the creaky bed. There were no bathrooms (obviously being dead who would need them?) so I skipped the usual morning routines and went straight to picking up the bouquets. I filled my arms with as many bouquets as I can carry and proceeded down the squeaky stairs. Where was I supposed to put all these? I'm pretty sure this grave didn't come with cabinets full of vases for this specific reason. I walked down the hallway and noticed in the light the wall paper was very old fashion; a faded red that looks maroon lined with an even darker red pattern of dainty flowers. Cobwebs coated every corner of the house and instead of regular lights with light bulbs there were oil lanterns mounted on the wall.

"How old is this place? If I was just buried yesterday why is everything so old fashion?" I asked myself as I carried the flowers into the living room. The sofas, I noticed, untastefully matched the wallpaper and the outdated fire place was an ugly line of red bricks. Two dusted, gold, candelabras were placed on top of the mantel of the fireplace and that's when I saw myself reflected in the mirror for the first time since I woke up. I marched over to the mirror and gaped at what I saw.

My skin was pale blue like everyone else's and my eyes lacked the shimmer of light it once held. My brown hair wasn't shiny anymore and hung in limp waves instead of the pretty curls I once loved so much. Setting the flowers down on the arm chair, I decided to do a full autopsy on myself just to see how what has become of me. My jacket was wrinkled and stained by dark brown patches where the stab wounds were. The most blood had come from the wound in my stomach, where the cheap switch blade was currently embedded. My curiosity sparked once again when I grabbed the small handle and yanked it out from my stiff flesh. I didn't feel anything for a while and was about to place it on the mantel when the anxiousness began to grow inside me. I tried to ignore it and set the blade down so I could walk away but the emptiness kept gnawing at me. I couldn't take it anymore and with a growl of annoyance I spun around on my heel and walked back to the fire place and yanked the blade off.

"This is bullshit. Why do I have to keep this damn thing in to remind me how it all came to this?" I shoved the switch black back into my stomach and grabbed the piles of flowers. I already knew what I wanted to do with these. I didn't want to be reminded I was dead and people said their good byes to me when I wasn't even ready to say good bye to my life. I walked out of the house and tossed them into the yard of dead grass. After about 20 minutes of walking back and forth from my room to the yard dumping flowers I finally finished and returned to my room to sort out the photos and letters.

Once my room was cleared of the bouquets I had noticed I had a wooden writing desk pushed against the window complete with paper and quills tucked into a shelf. What I found really odd was the black telephone sitting on the desk for who do I call in this place? Death was weird and after I was done reading these letters I plan on going back to the Nail n' Coffin to learn more about this after life.

The rest of the letters weren't as sad as I thought it was going to be. My brother Jake had sounded upset but he still kept up that humorous tone he held through hard times and for that I really appreciated. It must have been so hard for him this whole time and it made me incredibly happy to know he was being strong this whole time. I wish I could have left him something or told him I loved him one last time but I couldn't think like that. I would drive myself mad thinking of all the things I could have done or said before I died. Jake had also mentioned that dad didn't write a letter for he was having a more difficult time coping with my death and hasn't said anything for days before the burial. The only time he spoke was with the police and that was all.

"Aw dad. You gotta come out of this. I wish I could tell you I'm fine…" Of course in reality I wasn't fine. How could anyone be ok with having your life being taken from you? I did nothing wrong to the man who killed me and he toke it upon himself to end my life as if it were up to him. Was this how it was supposed to be for me since the beginning? To live and work hard expecting my dreams to come true someday only to have it cut short in the blink of an eye by some lowly thief? I got to my feet in frustration and decided to head to the bar so I can get some answers.

I closed the wooden door behind me and locked it with the skeleton key before I toke off down the stone road towards the Nail n' Coffin. Now that I have adjusted a bit better I noticed the graves around me were all buildings with different architectures. There were shops selling the oddest things such as body parts and eye balls along with teeth. It was a bit morbid to look at but so was looking into the mirror to see myself as a corpse. Go figure. As I continued down the road I saw more shops selling clothes that looked like it came from the 70's or 50's and plastic jewelry. Another shop I passed sold a variety of poisons and plants that were just as deadly as the contents in the bottles.

Once I reached the bar I pushed open the wooden doors and jumped in surprise when the sound of laughter erupted from the crowds of corpses drinking and having a good time. The place was crowded and I tried excusing myself as best as possible to get to the counter where I would hopefully find Margie. The counter was crowded with people ordering drinks and chatting; I had to shove my way in between two people.

"Margie!?" I called.

"She's in the back if you're looking for her." A different bar tender said, not even looking up at me.

I nodded and un-sandwiched myself from the two people I was stuck in between. After making my way through the crowds around the counter I saw swinging double doors that said 'kitchen' above so I immediately pushed open the doors and walked inside. What a relief! I wasn't an anxious person when it came to crowds but being surrounded by morbid looking dead people is still something I had to get used to. I just gotta make sure no one knows about that or I might sound like a racist or something. Looking around the kitchen that was bustling with a few cooks and waiters, I carefully made my way through and kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Margie.

"Excuse me?" I asked a waiter as he walked by.

"Yeah?" He said.

"Is Margie back here?"

"Her office is over there. Knock before going in." With that he walked on carrying what looked like rotten dead fish with its bones sticking out. Thank goodness we didn't have to eat anything otherwise id starve myself just to prevent eating THAT.

I reached the black door and knocked a few times, "Margie? It's me Claudia, may I come in?"

"Yes!" I heard from the inside. I opened the door cautiously and stepped in to see the short woman sitting at her desk and on the phone. She gestured to me to keep quiet and take the seat before her. I sat down and watched her listen intently on the phone as her expressions changed from biting her lip to softly smiling and nodding. It wasn't long before she finally set the phone down without saying anything.

"How are you feeling dear? Adjusting a bit better?" Margie said.

"Um…a little but not so much. Who was that on the phone if you don't mind me asking? I noticed I have one at my grave but I don't see any use for it."

Margie smiled as she leaned back in her chair, "Have a few questions ready to be answered, do we?"

I sighed, "Yes. As much as I want to avoid the reality of this it's eating at me to know what happens now and how all this works."

Margie nodded in understanding and began, "Well let's start with the telephones. Have you noticed there are no numbers on them?"

Confused, I leaned in to the see the old dark telephone with the rolling dials. She was right, there were no numbers to pick and choose from as if it were made like this. "I don't get it?"

"These phones aren't meant to call one another down here. It's for the living to call us."

"WHAT?!"

"Now calm down it's not what you think. When your family comes to visit your grave the telephone at your grave will ring and lets you listen to whatever they have to say or pray."

My hopes diminished and I kicked myself for thinking it was possible to talk to my family again. If I couldn't do it when I was alive what makes me think it can work like that now?

"I guess that makes sense."

"Next question, shall we?" Margie smiled kindly as she opened the drawer from her desk and pulled out two small glasses. She began to pour poison into the glasses and offered one to me. Hesitantly, I took it and swirled the contents in my glass around trying to see what kind of poison this was.

"It's ricin, strong stuff but not the worst I can tell you that."

I nodded and sighed as I threw the glass back and downed the poison. It stung but didn't hurt, "Right, um, so my next question is this. What happens now? What do I do with my time here?"

"That entirely up to you darling."

"That doesn't really answer my question."

"There's many answers to that. You can go on wallowing in self-pity, secluded to your grave, and squeezing every last tear you can shed for yourself. Or," Margie stood up and walked around the desk to sit beside me in the other chair, "you can move on and accept this afterlife. Find a job, make new friends, listen to whoever comes to visit your grave, and finding happiness for yourself just like you did in life."

I looked down at my hands and fiddled with the glass in them. It did make sense. Death wasn't as scary as I thought, it was just like above but the opposite. There was no hate, fear, or crime and everyone seemed happier by the looks of it. But I still couldn't shake the anger I had towards my murderer, the one who took me away from my dreams and my family.

"I know it's harder for you dear. You were at the prime of your life, young and free and I'm sure many dreams you wished to achieve."

"I did. I was in college and worked at a Chinese restaurant as a waitress. I have…had a lot of friends I would always hang out with. On Sundays I would visit my family and we would have cook outs. My brother Jake and I would play video games in his room for hours. I also had a dog named Douglas, a cute little beagle and I hope my parents took him in for me."

"What did you want to be in life Claudia? I hope it wasn't a doctor cause we don't need those down here." Margie chuckled.

I chuckled as well, "No. It's kind of silly but I studied theatre and wanted to move to New York and become an actress, maybe sing in Broadway. That's all I have ever wanted to do."

"Ah a singer? Well we may not be Broadway here darling but the Nail n' Coffin could always use some new entertainment, what do you say?" Margie smiled.

"You want me to sing here? There's no pay?"

Margie laughed, "There's no use for money down here Claudia. But it give you something to do and look forward to, does it not?"

I nodded in agreement, "I guess your right in that aspect. Ok, I will give it a go. Ill sing here and maybe I will make some friends?"

"That's the spirit girl! It will get easier with time, you'll see." Margie and I stood up and we began to walk towards the door.

"But I do have one more question."

"Yes dear?"

I chuckled breathlessly, "Why for the love of god is everything so out dated here!? The wallpaper, furniture, buildings, even the clothes in shops?"

Margie blinked and a comical smile formed on her corpse face, "Do you really think time exists in the land of the dead Claudia? I don't even know what date it is above this very moment! Eventually you won't either."

"Well don't expect me to be singing songs from 50 years ago. Somethings gotta change and it will start with the music." I laughed as Margie smacked my arm.

"Respect your elder's cheeky girl!"

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading this far if you have. I would like to take this time to talk a little about this fanfic.

I literally started writing this three days ago on a whim and have been writing each chapter non stop and only going back to edit. This is all for funsies and has a total of 15 chapters, though i cant be sure how long each chapter will be. Sorry in advance if it is poorly written or is grammtically incorrect, i would just like to acheive my goal of someday completing a fanfiction. Hopefully it will be this one.

Corpse Bride isn't the most sought after film for fanfiction but I have always loved this movie and thought it would be fun to invest a story that delved into the land of the dead and how it might work.

I hope you enjoy the rest of Claudia's story and you will be meeting familiar faces hopefully soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Won't go unnoticed**

 _ **One month later…**_

" _Every time when I look in the mirror  
All these lines on my face getting clearer  
The past is gone  
It went by, like dusk to dawn  
Isn't that the way  
Everybody's got the dues in life to pay…"_

There was a sudden knock at my door that surprised me, nearly making me fall off the step stool I was using to dust the book shelves in my grave. I set my hand on the wall for balance and stepped off the stool. I threw the feather duster on the couch and made my way down the hall to the front door while humming the song I was singing and opened the door.

"What goes Claw to the D to the A?" a flamboyant red head with no eyes said.

"I'm just sprucing the old tomb up before work. What's up Beth?" I opened the door wide enough for the short girl to walk through.

"I thought I stop by and walk with you to the bar once you're ready. Had nothing better to do otherwise." She fell onto my couch and propped her bare feet onto my coffee table. I twitched and went over to knock them off with my knees, "What are you an animal? This is mahogany from the colonial times, I don't even put decorations on this!" I used the feather duster to wipe off any dirt the crazy girl brought in.

Beth was a sweet girl I met a week after I started taking up shows in the Nail n' Coffin. She died when she was 14 around 20 years before I got here and it was under unfortunate circumstances that made me feel horrible for crying over my own death. Avoiding the foul bits leading up to her death, she was abducted by a man who was a longtime friend of her family. She said she used to have the prettiest green eyes but the man liked them as well and took them before he buried her in the woods. Thankfully her body was recovered and she was resting at peace knowing her rapist and murderer was locked away for life. The young girl became attached to me after hearing me sing at the bar and constantly demanded lessons from me whenever I could teach her. She was a handful but over all very sweet and great company to have. She was also the first friend I made here, aside from Margie of course.

"Are you saying I'm dirty?!"

"No, but you don't wear shoes and I don't want dirt all over my nice coffee table that I just waxed."

Beth snorted, "What's the point if it's just going to get all dusty again by tomorrow?"

She had a point but I chose to ignore it. After living in the land of the dead for a month I learned that cobwebs, spiders, dust, and dead roots were a common find around here. What with being '6 feet underground' keeping things tidy was nearly impossible. Some old habits were hard to break but once a neat freak always a neat freak. Besides it kept me busy when I had nothing better to do.

"It's going to be a swinging good time tonight! What will you be singing Claudia? Probably something fun and what you called up beat right?"

"I had a few ideas in mind. But you will have to wait and see." I tickled her nose with the feather duster and she giggled as she smacked it away.

"I can't wait to be able to sing like you Claudia. I can barely hold a note before cracking."

I hung the duster inside the closet in the living room and closed it, "It took me years to get where I'm at and I hate to break it to you Beth, I'm still learning and am nowhere close to the pros. You over estimate me."

"But you're the best in St. Mary's cemetery so you're the pro here!" Beth stepped on the cushions and leapt over the sofa making me wince. I had just fluffed the cushions free of wrinkles. "If you keep practicing you will get miles ahead better!"

"Your enthusiasm is so sweet I would be taken out by diabetes if I weren't already dead." I laughed as I patted the red head on the shoulder. "Let me grab my jacket and we will be off." I ran upstairs and threw the door open to grab my jacket from the closet. Over the month as I sang at the bar it came to my surprise that there was a 'tip jar' for the band and it was filled up with rusty old coins and gold pieces. The band I performed with, known as the Grim Grinners, generously gave me some as a thank you for giving them new content to work with and asked me to be a permanent member. Of course I obliged. The coins and gold pieces were worthless a majority of places, like Margie said, but I learned rare items were sold in shops and boutiques that could only be acquired by these ancient pieces and doubloons. With these generous offerings given to me from my shows I had shopped in all sorts of stores and boutiques and bought myself a few new outfits that I thought would be fun to wear for special performances. Despite my closet having only four new outfits I kept the clothes I died in for it felt odd wearing anything else. Margie had explained that people usually never changed out of the clothes they died in, for what reason she didn't know but all she said it was all a part of your death. To embrace it. Which I still hadn't come around to.

I swung my jacket on and descended the stairs where Beth was waiting in the hallway and poking at a picture frame. "I didn't know you had pictures hanging. Who's in them?"

I zipped up my jacket half way and looked at the black frames I had put up to make my grave more homey, "It's a photo of me and my brother Jake. I think he left it for me when I was buried."

"He's still alive?"

"Yeah, he's alive. He is 16 years old and a sophomore in high school." I said sadly.

"Do you have any other photos hanging?" Beth began to feel around the walls for more frames but I grabbed her hands before she could knock anything down.

"Yeah, just a couple! I have one of my mom and dad and another with me and my dog Douglas at a park." I didn't really want to talk about my family for it only made me ache inside.

Beth nodded, "I wish I had photos of my family. Then again I wouldn't be able to see them." She chuckled.

"Yeah, um, we ought to get going Beth. I don't want to keep the guys waiting and I want to warm up before we go on."

"Right! Can't keep St. Mary's rising star from reaching the top!"

"You seriously put me on a pedestal too high to reach." I chuckled as I opened the door and walked out with the bubbly girl.

* * *

As soon as we got to the Nail n' Coffin the growing crowds turned and waved at me with hoots and hollers of praise, making me blush if I could. I waved at some of the familiar faces, some I knew by name and others I have yet to learn, and made my way to the stage where the band was already setting up.

"Hey boys! You ready tonight?" I asked enthusiastically.

"By all means girl!" Charles said. He was a nice boy a tad younger then I was, well by living standards, and wore a dusty grey dress suit and matching fedora. He had explained when he was alive he was shot in the head by another boy who grew jealous of him because a girl they both liked favored him more. "Are we still doing that song you gave us last week?" he said.

"If you guys had enough practice with it I'm down. Otherwise we can do something else?" I said as I tapped the old silver microphone. If only I had a more modern microphone to properly deliver my voice.

"This one was a bit tricky to get the hang of but it sounds killer Claudia!" Raymond, a kind skeleton, said as he toke his place on the drums.

"It's really refreshing learning new material from what's playing upstairs. Got anything else we can do for next week?" Said Caleb. He was the last of the member of the band and the oldest. He was a man who passed away in his early 30's in a car accident and had been a musician in life. I loved chatting with him for he was a talented individual who could play many instruments such as the trumpet, saxophone, piano, drums, flute, guitar, and trombone. While studying theatre growing up I only knew a bit of the piano but that was just from reading sheet music and notes.

"I think we should get pass this performance before moving onto the next." I chuckled. The band nodded as we continued to set up the stage and the pink and green lights were being fixated on us. The crowds were bustling looking for open seats or taking their spots standing near the stage.

Despite being dead I absolutely lived for this moment as a singer and actor. The rush of prepping before a show and seeing the audience before you. This was the closest I felt to living ever since I died.

"Good evening everyone! Thank you for coming out, we are the Grim Grinners and we hope you have a good time tonight." I said in the microphone as the crowds clapped and whistled in encouragement. I smiled and looked over my shoulder to the boys who nodded, meaning they were ready to go.

Caleb began to play at the guitar, having his moment of just him and the crowd, and as soon as I started singing the other guys joined in.

" _There you are like the man of my dreams,  
There you go saying all of the right things,  
I'm just a girl  
Or at least that's what you think  
If loves a crime I'll rob you blind"_

The crowd was getting really into it, and then there was Beth who was acting as if I was Beyoncé who came out for her birthday. I smiled into the mic as I saw her jumping up and down and kept on singing with as much attitude as I could muster up for the theme of the song. The song was about a man who played women and broke their hearts for fun until a beautiful woman comes in and plays the same game with him and leaves him broken hearted. It was modern, it was fun, it gave me an attitude on this stage and I was playing it for as long as the song would go for. Caleb started his solo and I stepped back to let him have the stage all the while subtly dancing beside Raymond who got a kick out of the routine.

" _You hunt your prey like a carnivore  
Thought that you were gettin me  
Cause just one taste  
leaves you wantin more  
But baby I got you beat  
Got you beat!"_

The crowd was jumping up and down and quite a few gentlemen were whistling, making me want to laugh but I kept on singing as I strut up and down the stage. By the end of the song I knelt down to the ground, flipping my hair, and slowly rising while running my hand up the side of my body. I strutted to the center of the stage and raised my hand out as if I was grabbing the pink light and finished off the song going into the highest note I could muster.

" _Oh no you didn't see  
What's hidden up my sleeves  
Took the pain  
But I took everything  
Because I'm a heart breakin thief!  
I'm a heart breakin thief!"_

The audience erupted in applause followed by hoots and cheers making my smile reach ear to ear. I saw my friend Beth scream in excitement and I toke her hand, giving it a light squeeze before raising my hand back into the air. The boys behind me laughed in amazement of how well the song played out and especially my performance.

"Claudia! Claudia! Claudia!" The crowd chanted making me feel the happiest I have felt in months. This is what I missed from life. The thrill of the performance and the praise of the audience brought me back to life and made me feel for a brief moment that I was alive and performing in my schools theatre again.

"Encore! Encore!"

"Give us another song!"

"Or just dance!" The crowd laughed at the last request and a few others began to agree.

I laughed at their fervor of trying to get me to dance but I went on with the show, "Thank you very much everyone! But the fun has just begun. Hit it boys!" The band started up again playing a series of songs I taught them over the month. Most of the songs were upbeat and easy to dance along to and others were more soulful and meant for listening. But tonight wasn't a night for some sad love song, tonight was meant for fun and excitement. I was feeling alive and I was going to keep that up until everyone's bones fell to the ground.

* * *

"That was the best show we have ever had in the longest time! I mean, you JUMPED into the crowd and they carried you!" Charles laughed as he took his fedora off to set down on the bars counter. I laughed as I jumped onto the counter to sit on, "It's called crowd surfing, and I didn't even realize what I was doing until I was being carried!"

"Gotta hand it to ya doll, you're making us look good." Caleb nodded with a smile as he took a swig of poison from a beer bottle.

"It's you guys that make me look good, who're you kidding?" I chuckled, still dazed from the performance we had completed a little over an hour ago. If I had air I swear I would be out of breath right now! Tonight has been nothing but bliss and I never wanted this feeling to end.

"We gotta top it next week! Maybe something a bit more sultry eh?" Raymond jokingly ran his boney finger down his ribcage making a funny chime as he did so.

"Sultry? Are we going to be an R rated band now?" I teased.

"Depends what moves you start busting out there. You're lucky THIS," Charles sized his body up, "doesn't have luscious long hair to flip otherwise the ladies will be clawing at the stage just to get a piece of this."

"Oh come off it!" Caleb smacked the back of Charles head jokingly.

We all laughed as we each received a foaming pitcher from the bar tender and toasted to another successful show. As we continued chatting and laughing we would occasionally have a few people come up to us and give their praises to our performance. A few guys would also come up to me and try to ask me out but I politely declined and insisted that I wasn't interested in a relationship or dating in general. I bit my tongue as a sudden thought ran through my mind. I wonder if this happiness will last and if I will ever consider this afterlife normal. And no matter how hard I tried I couldn't look pass the thought of dating another a corpse as necrophilia. Even though it doesn't count as necrophilia because I myself am just as dead it still felt weird and I couldn't get over it. But it was just dating, it's not like I will ever get married and have a life down here anyway. For now I will drink and laugh with my band mates and come up with more music for us to play.

"Hey guys great show tonight." Margie said as she walked up to the counter with a rolled up newspaper under her arm.

"Thanks Margie! We should get you to sing next time, then we will have two fine ladies to bring the house down!" Raymond gestured a wink which received a smack from the bar owner.

"Oh hush you. Do you all mind if I steal Claudia away?" Margie said.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and turned to the guys who looked a bit confused but nodded. I turned back to Margie and climbed off the counter I was sitting on, "Sure that's fine." I said.

Margie nodded and led me up a flight of stairs that took us to the bars second floor. She opened a glass door that led into the balcony where a few patio tables and chairs were laid out. I walked over to the balconies edge and leaned over to see the view of the cemetery all lit up in the constant night our world was subjected to. It seemed so beautiful…if it wasn't so morbid.

"So what's up Margie?" I asked. Margie joined my side at the balcony and bit her lip before speaking, "Do you…read the paper Claudia?"

"The newspaper? Uh, no? I didn't think it would have anything interesting for St. Mary's isn't really a big cemetery."

Margie sighed, "It doesn't just cover news around the cemetery dear. It gives us news of those who join us down here, things that go on in neighboring cemeteries within Ohio, and even some news from above…especially those that relate to some of the people buried down here."

I turned to Margie, "What are you talking about Margie?"

She held out the rolled up newspaper and I hesitantly took it from her. Slowly, I opened the black and white paper and read the head line in bold black letters.

 **Murderer Runs Free!  
On March 4, 2017, Claudia Reed was welcomed to the land of the dead after her sudden murder on February 28** **th** **. Sources of the alleged suspect for murdering Reed has been under investigation for over a month but has found no further information. The Ohio Police investigation team has brought in several suspects in for questioning but no arrest has been made due to the alibis proven by the accused suspects. Chief of the Ohio state police department, Richard Davis, has concluded the investigation believing the murderer to have fled the state and has notified neighboring states to be on the lookout for a man who fell under the description listed below. No comments of the deceased family has been made.**

My hands were shaking. Everything was shaking. I read the words over and over again in my head but nothing was registering. All but that damn headline. Murderer runs free. My murderer got away. I was stupid enough to believe this whole time the man who killed me was sitting in a petty jail cell regretting everything he has done to me and my family but instead he got away. And my family hasn't said anything because they were probably just as upset as I was right now!

"What the fuck!" I yelled as I threw the paper to the ground and screamed, "He got away!? That fucker got away!?"

"Claudia,"

"I don't give a shit! That ass hole killed me for no god damn reason and he gets away with it? The police aren't going to do shit about it either!"

"Claudia enough!" Margie yelled. "This is a part of death. Something you have yet to grasp. You cannot keep playing around expecting this game of yours to work." Margie said.

"Game!? What game can I possibly be playing Margie! I'M DEAD! I already lost!"

"No. You are setting yourself up for failure. You coming in every few nights to sing and dance trying to feel alive again is only slowing you down. This," Margie picked up the newspaper and showed me the head line again, "is the reality of your death. You don't know what it truly means to accept death and until you do you will be left to nothing."

I was about to retort when I noticed the picture of the police drawing of the man who murdered me. I toke the paper and looked at the detailed drawing. He was 6 ft. tall and had sandy blonde hair with blue eyes. He looked like any other ordinary man except he had a small mole on his chin. I knew this man.

"Peter…peter walker."

"Excuse me?" Margie said.

"Peter fucking walker was the guy who killed me. He was a student at my university. He never said anything to me or anyone but was taking all the theatre classes. I knew I saw him from somewhere! What the hell did I ever do to this guy to deserve this fate!?" I crumpled the paper and threw it over the edge.

"No fucking point of having this information right? I'm dead and the living will never hear me."

"That's enough Claudia! There are rules that are made for the land of the dead and you must never EVER insult death himself. He doesn't take kindly to those who insult him when he has been generous to leave you in a place of existence." Margie warned.

I shook my head in frustration, "Then if he is generous why am I still suffering!? I know who killed me but he got away and now I'm just another unfortunate murder victim to scrawl across the bottom of a news line who will be forgotten when new news comes along!" I turned on my feet and ran out the door and down the stairs, ignoring the odd glances and people calling my name. I pushed the door open and ran down the stone street going nowhere in particular.

I felt nothing. There was no air to breath. Barely any tears to cry. And no heart to break in sorrow due to the fact that my death was unjustified and my murderer was as good as free. Free to live a life I never got a chance to explore and make my own. He will continue to go to school, make some sort of career for himself, and do whatever the hell he wants while I sit down here to rot for eternity. I ran into an alley and screamed into my hands, muffling the sound as much as possible, and fell to my knees. No matter how many shows I perform and amounts of poison I consume I will never live again. And I could never get over that.

* * *

Authors note: Thank you for reading!  
Songs that Claudia sang: Dream On by Aerosmith  
Thief by Alexander Jean

I hope your enjoying the story so far and dont worry your favorite corpse bride characters will be debuting in a chapter or two.


	4. Chapter 4

**To Be Dead**

Nothing. I felt like nothing as I sat on the ground of an alley, leaning against the brick wall. I starred at the wall opposite of me for what seemed like days and I couldn't bring myself to get up. Let alone move. For hours I beat against the brick wall trying to cry, but I couldn't, so I ended up yelling a lot. I shouted curses to Peter Walker for killing me and getting away with it. I shouted for my mother to take me away from this place. I shouted at my friends at the Nail n' Coffin for not understanding the pain I was emotionally feeling and how I could do nothing about it. What good is crying for the dead if we couldn't even shed more than three tears? I shouted and shouted until I fell to my knees, feeling utterly defeated. I was ashamed of feeling this weak; as if Peter knew somewhere up there in the land of the living that I was suffering and he won. Margie was right. I had mentally set up a game in my mind that I would pretend to move on and be happy and see how long I would go before I break. I was losing and Peter was still wining because I allowed him to.

That asshole took my life and I had to get him back. I needed to for what he did to me and my family. Suddenly an idea came to my mind. What if there was a way to tell someone above who my killer was? I remember when I was alive I would watch psychics on TV play detective using spirits and some were right in their findings. Maybe I could talk to a psychic, if I could find one, and tell them my name and killer!

"Wait no…that would be dumb." And it was. The reality of the land of the living is that they don't really believe in ghost or spirits and especially psychics. I know I didn't when I was alive! I have to think rationally about this. Is there even a way to contact the living? If ghost are real how could I go up and "haunt" my family or the police to tell them about Peter?

I sighed as I leaned against the wall once again to think when something brushed against my arm. I looked down to see a crumpled newspaper under the weight of my arm and reached over to pick it up. Unfolding the paper, I read the headline of the page to learn that it was the obituary welcoming the new dead from a week ago. It was a small list of eight people total and they had all died of various reasons. Most were accidents, one was sickness, and the other was murder. How odd that the majority of everyone who is here got here by some unfortunate accident instead of something normal like old age. The page also featured advertisements for high quality body parts for replacing missing or broken limbs. Surprisingly enough there was a shop in another cemetery across town that sold dead animals as pets, mostly strays due to the fact many buried cats and dogs stuck around to wait for their owners. The articles on the back of the page was a variety of stories about the St. Mary cemetery undergoing new changes above that would affect our homes down here.

Then it hit me. How would the newspaper company know about the changes above? Somebody would have to tell them right? Or go up themselves to haunt!?

"That's it!" I jumped to my feet, gripping the newspaper, and ran out of the alley. The location of the newspaper company was listed on the very corner of the page in small print but big enough to understand. It was outside the St. Mary's cemetery in a place called Spring Grove. This was it, this was the place that would give me the answers to whether I can go above or talk to someone who could avenge my death! I will find someone and ask if they know where this Spring Grove is and I'll be back before anyone notices I'm gone. I ran around the block and down the road to see the black gates that surrounded the circumference of the large cemetery. As I grew near the ominous structures I noticed a man dressed in a rugged blue uniform leaning against the bars starring off into space. I don't know if he was some sort of guard or random person standing at the cemeteries gate but perhaps he could help me figure out where Spring Grove was outside St. Mary's. Quietly, I approached him, waiting for him to notice me but he was so far out I had no choice but to cough.

"Hmph. Um, excuse me?"

He turned, "Yes?"

"Hello. I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

"What could it be now?" He sighed.

"Do you know where Spring Grove is and how to get to it from here?"

He arched his eyebrows, "Spring Grove? Why you want to go way out there?"

I began to worry if this place was farther then I thought, "I want to visit. That's all. Is it far?"

"I've never been there myself. But if you leave the cemetery and go down that road," He gestured to the dirt path that lead into a dark forest, "You will reach a fork with signs that should point you in the direction."

I chewed my lip nervously and turned back to him, "I've never been outside the cemetery before…will it affect me in some way?"

He gave me a weird grin that made me feel uncomfortable, "Not at all. But be warned girly. There are things out there that are worse than death."

My eyes widened, "What do you mean? Like monsters or demons?"

He laughed, "Can't say I know for sure. I have never left the cemetery and have never found a reason to. But I've heard rumors of little demons who scavenge the land of the dead for wondering souls to drag to the pits of hell."

"Do they come here?" I asked.

"They don't come near cemeteries. Or least anywhere with scared grounds, resting places, and established burials that go on like cities. Gates like these help us know where that border stands." He kicked the gates behind him with his boot making it rattle but was still standing strong.

My hopes began to diminish, I can't leave and risk getting myself dragged to hell by a fucking demon. Here I thought there was no such thing as a heaven or a hell if I was 'resting' here. Guess I learn something new every day or I just suck at asking questions I should know the answers to.

"Well that's just…great. Never mind then."

"You're not going to go to Spring Grove?" He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes at him as I turned to leave, "Not if I'm going to be attacked and dragged to hell out there."

He laughed, making me mad and I spun around to face the jerk, "Look I get it I don't know didly squat about death and cemeteries and la de da. But I don't need your bull shit and have you treat me like some kind of idiot for not knowing what's out there or below us! If you laugh or make some damn comment I will fucking rip your arm off and throw it over the gate." I felt like my bottom eye lid twitched a bit. Ok maybe the threat was a tad too much, considering I can actually rip his arm off for its nothing but bones, but this asshole was asking for it.

I turned around to leave when I heard him whistle, "Damn. My kind of woman." He snickered.

I ignored him and kept walking. Men. There all the same even when you're dead.

"Hey girl hold up. I have something you can use that will protect you out there."

"Oh really? Is it a dead unicorn that will whisk me away to my destination?" I shoved my hands in my pockets as I kept walking until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see the same guy still wearing that snarky grin and noticed he had a gold tooth.

"Maybe not this time. But I have the next best thing." He pulled a necklace out from under his collared uniform jacket and revealed to me a large silver cross decorated in black stones that looked like nothing I've ever seen before.

"What's that?"

"It's a holy relic. I don't even know what its ancient name is, it's so old, but a guardsmen that works in the Randal Lakes cemetery seven miles away from here gave it to me saying it's rare to find these. They ward off the evils that lurk the land of the dead.

"Where can I find one?" I asked.

His creepy grinned softened and he actually looked friendlier. "Tell you what. I'll lend this to you and when you get back from Spring Grove you can repay me with a date, eh?" He said as he dangled the large cross before me.

I chewed my lip. This again, this awkward feeling of dating another dead person gnawed at me and I knew I wasn't ready for that. Let alone with this guy who was acting weird. "Sorry. I appreciate the favor but I'm not interested in dating right now." I said. It sucked to see my chance at possibly catching my killer dangle in that cross and I was unable to use it because I wasn't going to lead some random dude on thinking he has a chance.

"Dating or dating me?"

"Both." I smirked as I shrugged my shoulders.

The guy didn't let up, "Alright I see. Tell you what, I'll let you borrow this if you get me a drink once you get back. What do you say?"

"That still sounds like a date."

"It's not I promise. I've seen some of your shows at the Nail n' Coffin and you seem cool. I just wanna hang, we straight?" He held the cross out once again and I watched it sway.

I sighed, "Fine. But we are not going to date. I don't want any sort of relationship, strictly friendship." I took the cross and hung it around my neck, it felt rather heavy for its size. The guardsmen smiled as he led me back to the black gates.

"Don't have to tell me twice lady. I'm Smith by the way. And I don't think I ever caught your name. Clarissa?"

"Claudia."

"Won't forget." He winked as I rolled my eyes. He opened the black gates with a skeleton key similar to my graves key and the door slowly crept open, making a screeching sound.

Hesitantly, I stepped out of the cemetery and was cautious to feel or hear anything that meant trouble. One foot out, then my arms, now the other foot, and I was completely outside St. Mary's. I sighed, "Alright well…here I go."

"See ya when ya get back, Claudia." Smith said from behind the black bars as he closed the gates shut.

I nodded and started forward towards the darkness of the forest. The forest wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be, the trees made the world around me darker than it already was but that's all it was. Nothing but darkness. Every now and then I would hear crows cawing at me from the branches they perched on but it didn't bother me. In fact the noise was comforting compared to the dead silence I thought I had to put up with.

Man, Jake would get a kick out of all this life after death stuff. He was always into the paranormal and would read books about ghost and TV shows that explained various theories of what happens when you died. I wish I had payed attention to see if they were right or not but I'm not sure if waking up in the cemetery and living a relatively "normal" death is what they thought.

I suddenly came upon a wooden sign with various locations to choose from. The road to the left would take me to two other cemeteries I recognized from above whenever I drove by and the rode to the right said it would take me to Spring Grove cemetery. Aha! There it was plain and simple! Until I saw where Spring Grove was….

"Cincinnati!? I gotta walk all the way to Cincinnati!?" I panicked. I lived in Columbus and if I walked to Cincinnati it would probably take me 35 to 40 hours on foot. But if I turned back that stupid Smith guy wouldn't let me hear the end of it. _"Aw too far for you butter cup? No worries let's talk about it over drinks."_ Ugh I be damned if I hurt my pride this soon!

"Well I guess I'm going to Cincinnati." I muttered as I started walking down the road to my right.

* * *

Since living in the land of the dead I have lost the sense of knowing the time and just as easily the dates. Thankfully the newspapers gives me an idea but they hardly ever mentioned it. I figured it was due to the fact that time was irrelevant down here. I felt like I have been walking for hours and I have only ran into two signs that gave me directions to other cemeteries but I just kept following the path that would take me to Spring Grove. What was I thinking? Walking to another city that's normally a 2 hour drive! Everyone's going to know I'm gone and by the time I get back, which could be two or three days, they are going to ask where I've been. Then what? I obviously can't tell Margie about my crazy idea or anyone for that matter. I don't know what the rules of the dead call for but I'm pretty damn sure this goes against them. Yet here I am, already a few miles in, going to another cemetery to find out if there was a way to contact the living. I am so fucked. Yet I didn't care about the consequences. All I cared about was my family and how I could have been with them right now but instead I'm trekking through the dark forest of the god damn dead trying to catch my killer. I should have been auditioning for my schools next production and studying for exams instead of dealing with this bull shit!

I suddenly came across another wooden sign and nearly fell over with what I read.

 **Spring Grove Cemetery  
20 Miles**

"…What? I mean what!? I can't already be that close? I've only walked for a few hours." I looked around for any more signs I might have missed but all I saw was dark woods that went on for miles and fog floating along the grounds. I turned back to the sign and chewed my lip in wonder. Could it be that the distance in the land of the dead is different from above? I wouldn't be surprised if that's how it works, I mean, after everything I've seen and done anything seems possible now. I started down the dirt path again and passed the sign hesitantly. I hope this wasn't some sort of trick.

I watched the path ahead of me for some sort of sign I was getting near any source of civilization but all I saw was darkness. The crows continued to caw above my head and I began to grow annoyed with their pestering. I rather deal with the silence of the forest then these annoying birds. What are they even doing down here? I thought only dead beings can come down here? The birds looked very much alive now that I think about it. They were all flesh and feathers from what I saw.

"There's too much I don't know about this place. I hate not knowing anything…I feel like a child learning my alphabet for the first time."

"I'm sure there was plenty in life you didn't know but had yet to learn darling."

"AH!" I screamed as I spun around raising the heavy silver cross at the one who spoke.

I was face to face with a short man who had a half a face of blue skin and the other was skeleton. I nearly fell in terror when I saw the disgusting sight. It must have looked a million times worse when he was alive. Well at least before he died. It looked like someone peeled the left side of his face completely free of his skin and muscle. He wore a winter coat with brown pants and didn't wear any shoes, revealing his stubby blue feet marred with dried dead cuts.

"Aw now no need for that missy. I'm just walking my pal Poncho here." He chuckled. Suddenly a big dog with hardly any fur bounded from the trees and over to the man with half a face wagging its grey tail.

"Um…who are you?" I asked.

"Jimmy's the name missy. Nice to meet ya." He smiled kindly. I couldn't help but smile in return, he reminded me of a grandfather children would look up to and adore.

"This here is Poncho. We were just having a stroll before heading back to the old grave."

"Where are you buried?" I asked.

"Just down this here rode, a few miles away. Are you headed this direction?" He said as he stepped out onto the road holding a wooden cane I didn't notice until now.

I nodded, "Yes, I'm going to Spring Grove."

"Why look at that! Poncho and I live there. Quite a lovely cemetery if I say so myself."

"Really? You live there? That's great! I was worried I might have been tricked. I'm from Columbus and usually walking from there above would take forty hours but I feel like I'm getting there in seven."

The man started walking beside me with his grey dog bounding behind us happily, "The distance down here isn't as vast as it is above. It makes it easier for the dead to visit other graves that may be buried in other places."

"That's pretty convenient for us." I wondered.

"Well that's not solely the purpose dearie. Death works in mysterious ways. Perhaps he doesn't like walking very long." He chuckled.

I slightly smirked, "I'd be careful sir. I think Death can hear all us if he wanted to."

Jimmy waved me off, "Ah he's not as bad as he seems."

"Wait you've met him?" I asked astonished.

"We all do. At least some of us remember. I've been around for quite some time. Quite a long time actually." He rubbed his head with the skull and chuckled, "When you have been around for as long as I have your bound to run into him eventually."

I am completely floored with the amount of information I was learning today. "Does he just…walk around or?"

"These woods are dark dear. Death lurks in all the dark places of the world above and below. Why he could be watching us from somewhere in these woods. Maybe a few feet away even."

I swear I felt chills run down my spine but that would be ridiculous. I glanced around then back at the man who was chuckling, "Don't fret dearie. He wouldn't do anything to ya. Trust me if you broke the rules you would know if he came for you."

I'm hoping that's not anytime soon. "Um, yeah, so how much further till we are at Spring Grove?"

"Well we are just about there. Look ahead."

I looked up and gaped at the sight I saw before me. The cemetery was beautiful… There were mausoleums that were as big as mansions and a church that reminded me of a smaller Notre Dame. The dead trees swirled wistfully within the cemetery and soothing orange lights were hung in every branch. The cemetery gates were beautifully detailed in gothic swirls and silver. The angelic statues were a bit macabre but they towered throughout the cemeteries and tomb stones beautifully as if protecting who was buried there. Jimmy and I walked up to the gates and he took it upon himself to open the gates door and held it open for me. I thanked him and walked inside with the dog passing me first in excitement.

"Would you like to come over to my grave for some tea?"

"No thank you sir. But I really appreciate you walking with me here. If you don't mind me asking, do you know where this newspaper company is?" I pulled out the folded page of newspaper from my jacket pocket and showed it to Jimmy. The man looked it over and nodded, "Ah yes, you're going to want to head down that path and go past the cathedral. From there you will come upon a white mausoleum, make a left and you will happen upon it. Can't miss it." He insisted.

I nodded and waved to him while scratching the dogs head, "Thanks again sir! See you around!" I turned on my heel and walked down the beautiful cemetery with large stone structures and many people walking about. Everyone seemed to dress very old fashion, almost like the Victorian eras. This cemetery must be something historic. Ohio has a lot of those.

I followed the directions Jimmy gave me and nearly got lost with all the beautiful buildings and statues I passed by. I've never seen such a pretty cemetery before! Compared to St. Mary's this place looked like the grounds of a palace I wanted to explore. Eventually I made it to a rather large mausoleum with a marble pillar towering out in the front that read _The Cemetery of Spring Grove news publishing._ I had finally made it!

Walking up the stone steps I pushed the heavy wooden doors open and was met a white marble room with a singular desk in the center where a woman was using a black typewriter and not even looking up to see me.

"Um excuse me?" I said.

"Did you make an appointment?" She said without looking up.

"Um, no I was wondering if I could speak to any journalist or perhaps the publishers?" I said.

"Everyone is very busy today. You will have to make an appointment." She said as she kept on typing. This was getting annoying really fast.

"Look I just need to see one journalist or anyone who gets the news for the paper."

"They are busy." She said once again.

I groaned and turned to walk out the door but looked over my shoulder to see she was profusely using her type writer. I looked around and saw to my left there was a door that was labeled "Offices" in bold black on the door. Quickly, I speed walk to the door and opened it and went inside. Before the girl could look up and come get me I ran down the hall that was lined with a red plush carpet and on either side of the walls were doors that had the names of those who occupied the offices. I just need to find a journalist, someone who can give me answers! I bolted around the corner and nearly ran into someone carrying a stack of folders in his arms.

"Oh I'm sorry!" I said.

"Watch where you're going miss! I can't afford to get these out of order or I will be here all night!" He shouted.

"I said sorry, damn." I huffed as I walked around him to resume my search.

"Wait, who are you? What are you doing back here?" He said.

"How do you know I'm not supposed to be here, hm? Do you know who I am?" I demanded not exactly knowing where I was going with this façade I suddenly started putting on.

"Am I supposed to?" He asked curiously.

"I am Claudia Reed you dim wit! The singer!" Well I'm technically not lying.

"The singer? I don't remember hearing anything about a singer coming in today?"

"Well not to meet YOU of course. I was told someone was going to interview me and to wait in the break room…" I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. Can dead people go to jail?

"The break room? It's the other way miss singer." The guy pointed the other way.

"Well whose fault is it for not showing me the way? Geez I took time out of my performances and tours for this?"

The guy started to look like he was getting nervous, "I'm sorry mam um,"

"Forget it. I'm done with this! Your publishers have been contacting my managers for weeks when they heard I was coming into town and I decide out of the goodness of my heart to give you your interview. But this is what happens! I'm running around trying to find my interview but instead I get yelled at." I swear I would have made movies in Hollywood, I'm so good at acting. But I can't celebrate just yet.

"I'm terribly sorry Miss Reed! I'm a journalist! Well not quite yet, I just make copies but I can interview you and forward it to my publisher! He will be really happy you came by he is probably just busy what with all the work and such!" The man looked to be about twenty five or so and seemed very nervous and angst. I hate to have to play him like this but I've come this far.

"Well I came all the way out here. Might as well. Alright take me to your office." I said.

He nodded and gathered the folders tightly to his chest as he resumed walking the direction he was headed. I followed him with a swagger as if I owned the place, trying to live up to my "famous" status. We arrived at the end up the hall where he opened a cruddy grey door that looked like a janitor's closet and we went inside. The office, if you could call it that, was small and cluttered with mountains of yellow folders and the room was illuminated with a single light bulb. The desk was barely standing and was being held by stacks of old books instead of legs. Sitting on his desk was a piece of wood with the name Fredrick Briars carved into it.

"Excuse the mess! Please have a seat Miss Reed!" He pulled out a chair from behind a stack of papers and books and I took it. He ran around his desk and from underneath pulled out a grey typewriter that seemed older than the other ones I saw in the offices. He started applying paper inside and checking to see if there was some ink left. After he was satisfied he pulled out a pair of glasses that made him look endearing and looked up at me, "Forgive me, I'm a bit nervous. I've interviewed before but no one as important as a singer who tours." His hands were shaking.

I felt like such a dick. I swear I'm going to hell for this. This poor guy obviously wants to be a journalist but instead they have him stuffed in a closet doing paper work. I never thought the dead would play these cliché situations of not giving someone a chance to prove their talents.

"Well let's begin then…" He started typing his name and then the date which I read was April 10th 2017. Has it really gone by that fast already?

"So um, forgive me for I'm not familiar with your talents Miss Reed. But what kind of artist are you?" He asked.

"I…I sing a variety of genres. Anything you name it. I've only started touring this year so my name hasn't gone too far." I lied. If I gave this poor guy too big of a story he just might be fired because of me. Why would they publish an interview with someone who isn't even famous?

"Do you have a band? How has tour life been thus far?" He asked as he typed quickly.

"Um, yes I have a band. We are called the Grim Grinners and touring is great." This was eating me alive, I can only tell the truth and lie so much.

"Where will you be performing here in Spring Grove?"

"Oh um…I'm not sure some theatre or where ever my manger booked. Let's take a break yeah? I got a better idea how about I ask you questions so it's not as nerve wracking asking me all the questions?" I have to cut to the chase. If I have this go on for so long I'm going to lose my mind due to guilt.

The boy named Fredrick looked confused but shook his head, "Oh no miss I'm fine! I'm just warming up, I've got plenty more questions to ask. You could be my big break you know? Me, interviewing a famous songstress, it's a start to having me finally go out on the field." He beamed.

I'm going to mother fucking crack. "Look I'm not that famous ok!? I'm just trying to get myself out there and I just acted like a bitch to come off stuck up and all that!"

Fredrick blinked a few times, "W-what?"

"Ok you know what I can't do this. I'm lying. I'm not famous I just died last month and I'm here to get answers for how you guys get news from above when we are dead." I blurted out.

Fredrick starred at me for what felt like a long time and then he finally spoke, "You're…not famous?"

"No. I'm sorry. Maybe I could have been when I was alive." I smiled sadly.

Fredrick sighed and leaned back in his seat, removing his glasses, "Well that's just….fantastic. I get played again."

"I'm sorry…"

"Really it's my own fault. A pretty girl walks in with an attitude and I believe her. I thought I had a story that would at least get my feet off the ground in this damn place." He stood up and paced.

I felt horrible, "Fredrick, if I can call you that, I'm sorry. I was desperate to get my answers and I didn't think how this would hurt your feelings."

"Oh my feelings aren't hurt! They are perfectly fine thank you very much Miss famous singer." He said as he ripped the paper out of the type writer and crumpled it before throwing it in a trash bin beside me.

"Please leave."

"Wait you have to help me." I stood.

"Help you? I've already wasted time I could have used to finish my work in time so I don't stay here all night when everyone is gone!"

For a moment I wanted to argue back but I stopped myself. I sighed feeling defeated, "Your right. I don't deserve your help when I did you wrong like that." I turned around to leave, feeling shitty for what I just did, until I heard him sigh.

I looked over my shoulder as I saw the poor guy slouched against the wall with his eyes closed. I bit the inside of my cheek, wanting to say something but there were no words.

"Are you really a singer?" He asked all of a sudden.

"Yes." I answered.

"Why say you could have been famous?"

"…I'm dead."

"So?"

"So I can't make a name for myself and be famous if I never completed my training when I was alive. My dreams were taken from me." I nearly whispered while looking down at my feet.

Fredrick snorted and looked up at me, it was then I noticed his hair was parted and there was a bullet hole near the crown of his forehead, "I want to be a writer. A journalist. That was taken from me in life yet here I am still trying to do just that. In life and in death." He sighed as he kicked off the wall and began to lift his typewriter off and put it back under the desk, "You haven't been here long Miss Singer. There's so much you can do for yourself."

"You're awfully nice to someone who just played you."

"Well…you're not the worst." He chuckled as he pointed to the bullet hole in his head. I tried to swallow but there was no moisture in my mouth. "I like music. Can you sing something?" He said.

"Oh no I can't all of a sudden,"

"Well that's just cruel. The least you could do to repay me for your deceit is to sing a song." He said.

I sighed, he had a point. I began to hum a simple melody. It was soft and sounded lovely as it buzzed in my head. I didn't know what song I was going to sing as I continued to hum the pretty aria. My humming started to fade into a familiar aria I studied my sophomore year of college. My mouth opened and Un Bel Di came out in its beautifully practiced soprano notes. I wish I could go higher but my voice wasn't trained that far. Now that I think about it I haven't practiced my high notes in quite a while and I found myself a bit rusty. I wasn't bad but I wasn't doing my best either. I decided to cut the aria short by ending it on my highest note and subtly returning my voice back to a hum until I was silent.

Fredrick was starring in astonishment. His glasses had slipped down his blue face while he wasn't paying attention and he shook his head, "Um wow, I have never heard anything like that. What was that?"

"It's Un Bel Di by the Butterfly Woman. I studied and trained to be a soprano my senior year of high school all the way up till college. Unfortunately that's as high as I can go."

"That's the highest?! I thought you were going to break my glasses that was so high!"

I laughed, "Thank you but that range wasn't close enough to do that."

He smiled as he shook his head, "I don't think you would have a problem becoming famous with a voice like that. Where are you from?"

"St. Mary's cemetery in Columbus. I actually am in a band but we are only popular by the locals." I shrugged.

"Definitely wouldn't have a problem getting famous with a voice like that."

"Thanks. Well I'll be on my way then." I nodded as I reached for the door.

"You said you came here to find answers right? Answers to what?"

"Like I said before. I want to know how you're able to get news from above when we are dead."

"News from above?"

"Yes. Like in the papers, sometimes it says things about the cemeteries in the land of the living and how could you know that when we are down here?"

Fredrick blinked a few times before speaking, "Why would you want to know that?"

"Because my killer got away and I know who it is. I want to tell my family or the police."

"I'm afraid that's not possible." Fredrick stood up and walked around his desk, "The dead stay down here. We have no business up there unless the cemeteries are taken into account."

"But how would you know!?" I asked as I got in his way from opening the door.

"Please Miss Singer that is confidential."

"We can go above can we?" I begged to know. I was so close I just needed to break him!

Fredrick sighed and shook his head, "No. We don't. We can't because we are dead."

"Then how Fredrick? Tell me please!"

He thought for a long while before he snapped his fingers. Confused by his odd gesture I was about to speak when a hideously large black widow fell from the ceiling and landed on his shoulder. I screamed and backed away but immediately slammed into the door with a jolt. The spiders nasty long legs waved at me and I nearly screamed again when Fredrick shushed me with his finger.

"Calm down! You're going to get me in trouble! This is Bella, my partner."

"P-partner!? That's a mother fucking spider!" I screeched.

"You're so rude! How dare you call me that?!" The spider spoke.

I think I need to lie down for I just learned a lot of new things today, talking spiders is stretching it a tad too far. I wanted to faint but then remembered I was dead and there was no blood to drain from my head and make me dizzy and pass out.

"I don't understand…" I choked.

"Bella is one of the many widows here who go above to seek news of the cemeteries and anything that might have occurred regarding our graves."

"So let me get this straight, spiders can talk and go above ground to get your news?" I said.

"Yes that's right." He said.

"She's rather dumb, the poor song bird." The spider remarked before adding viciously, "And I EAT song birds."

I nearly gulped at the sight of the fangs bobbing in her mouth while she spoke. "So that means…there's no way the dead can go above?"

"No and there's nothing the spiders or maggots and even the crows can do to help you." Fredrick warned me. "They go above and the living can't hear them. Death is a completely different world Miss songstress. Have you ever heard a spider speak or a maggot laugh when you were alive?"

"Not that I recall…"

"Because you were alive and the living doesn't hear the dead." Fredrick set his hand on my shoulder, "Let it go famous singer. Go back to your grave and learn to be dead." With that he walked around me and opened the door to let me out.

"Safe travels back home songstress."

My hopes were shattered. My vengeance was far out of reach, like being stuck in a cage and the key was pleasantly placed within reach only my arm couldn't stretch far enough to grab it. I walked out of the door and proceeded to march down the hall before I heard Fredrick call out to me from his door, "Perhaps when you actually become famous you will let me interview you for real?"

I was so upset I didn't even turn around to respond, "There's an idea. I guess we will both keep dreaming for the rest of our deaths huh?" I knew that was a low jab but I was in no mood for playing pretend and imaging myself actually having a career in this life.

I'm going home and that is the end of this. I will go back to my grave to rot knowing my killer got away and there was truly nothing I could do about it.

* * *

 **My longest chapter yet, and by the next one Claudia's adventure will surely take off. I'm really excited to see her journey and meet the wonderful characters we love from Corpse Bride! Don't worry I will try to type up the next few chapters as fast as I can.**

 **Thank you for reading, please review because that really gives me motivation to continue.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: Hello everyone, as you all may have noticed, Claudia has gone on quite an emotional journey. And you have obviously noticed there are no canon characters present so far. Well I have a bad habit of making my stories long and informative so the world of the dead I portray makes some sort of sense.  
Well you will be happy to know (I hope...) that the next chapter after this one will have or canon characters here on out :) I'm very excited for Claudia to meet our friends who we adore so very much. Whelp! Hope you enjoy this long one I whipped up. I hope you enjoy the story, and I apologize for my long writing (especially the lack of canon charcters so far I know thats why people read fanfictions lol). **

* * *

**Wonder**

To say I was disappointed was a serious understatement. I emotionally felt many things after discovering the truth of how the newspaper company got their news from the land of the living. It was a waste of time to come all the way out here when I easily could have asked the hundreds of spiders that littered the corners of my home and the bar. Not that I knew spiders spoke since today. I don't know about you but I think I've done enough learning for one day.

I came upon a decayed wooden sign that gave a variety of directions to different cemeteries to choose from, I ignored the options and took the left path way that would take me home to St. Mary's. Shoving my hands into my jacket pockets I sighed and looked at my red shoes take turns going forward. What am I supposed to do now? To have that hope of avenging my own death being taken away left me in a worse state then before. There was truly no hope in such a gloomy place. No hope of peace, dreams to follow, family to love, and even love itself. I was stupid to take life for granted, because I missed it so much. I missed everything I had and everything I could have had. My possible dreams of singing on Broadway and finding a handsome and caring boyfriend who also shared my interest and having a family of my own. Poof. Gone. All of it taken away.

It wasn't long until I started walking past the masses of dead grey trees where an opening was beginning to form. Just as expected, within a few hours of walking through the scary woods of the dead, I saw my cemetery. As I continued to walk closer to the black gates I noticed someone was standing on the other side with his hands in his coat pockets, watching me arrive. At first I was confused as to who it was but then remembered it was Smith who lent me the cross to ward off any possibly threats.

"Ah she returns! For a while there I thought you ran off with my relic." He joked.

I nodded un-phased, "Got nowhere better to go." I stepped into the cemetery after he opened the gate for me. Quickly as to avoid a conversation, I pulled the cross off myself and handed it over to Smith, "Thanks for lending it. See you around."

"Woah hold up, that's it? No tales of adventure to share over a drink you promised?"

My fist tightened as I tried to control my temper, "Look I'm in no mood right now. I'll let you know when it's a good time but right now I need to be alone."

"Well that's no good. You have all the time in death to be alone. Never thought you were one to break promises." He shrugged as he put on the necklace and tucked it away.

I groaned, "My visit wasn't pleasant so it made me a very un-pleasant person to be around right now. Do you really want to have a drink with someone who will possibly bite your head off?" I said with annoyed.

Smith pursed his blue lips and slightly nodded, "Well my shift just ended so I rather do anything then nothing."

I was about to scream when I remembered my common curtesy, this dude helped me out before and it was fair to repay him with just this drink. Besides I think I need it anyway. "Fine. Let's go." I sighed as started walking towards the Nail n' coffin.

Smith suddenly grabbed my arm and I spun around instantly, "What?"

"I actually have a better place we can go. You probably wouldn't want to go there if your pals are going to bark up your tree hm?" Smith released me instead of walking down the road that lead into the city of graves and shops he went left into an alley that lead us further down the outskirts of the cemetery where the oldest graves lived. I've never actually been here before but I knew the general layout of the place from when I saw it above ground. Smith lead me through winding paths of cement and stacks of old wooden coffins that seemed heavily outdated from my time and we came up a set of stairs that went down. I went down slowly, not sure if I should be worried, and saw that the stairs lead to an underground hallway lit up with flickering red and green lights.

"Welcome to the Morgue." He grinned creepily over his shoulder, making me want to swallow nervously.

We came upon an eerie black door that was made of heavy iron and he knocked an odd combination, making the door open. We stepped inside and I was surprised with what I saw. The place was a bar that resembled a morgue perfectly. There were tables where corpse woman dressed in hospital gowns lied on and men were taking body shots off of them. The bar was lit in the disgusting hospital green lighting and fog was overflowing from the counter. There was a woman dressed like a slutty nurse with a knife in her head walking around offering shots of arsenic and painkillers turned into a drink. What disturbed me the most was the wall in the back of the room where storage doors were built to put in dead bodies and I saw two corpses, a nurse and a man, climb onto a table together with the woman on top and the two were pushed into the wall and locked in.

 _Oh my god I was taken to a creepy dead orgy fest!_ I screamed in my head.

"Hey Claud. Over here." Smith said.

I turned around to see Smith walking up some steps and opening a sheer red curtain that made a cozy little booth be more private. I didn't know what to do or say.

Before I could answer Smith laughed, "Nothing weird, promise. Just somewhere private." He said over the loud music.

I sighed and marched up the stairs, avoiding a drunken dead girl that had a purple bruise around her neck, and walked past the sheer curtains. I slid into the round booth and watched Smith do the same but thankfully kept his distance.

"So you come here often? I've never heard of such a place." I said.

Smith laughed, "Every now and then. It's a change from the usual Nail n' my god damn head that's for sure." He gestured to a nurse to come over and give her drink orders for the both of us. After she left he continued, "I haven't been here that long but it already feels like an eternity. It drive me fuckin nuts." He sighed.

"It's only been a month for me and I don't know how I'm going to continue on. I mean, what do you do down here when you have nothing going for you and you know who killed you but the living doesn't?"

The nurse returned with a tray of eight small glasses and laid them out on the table. After she left Smith took three glasses and passed the other three to me. They were three types of shots apparently, and each had different colors. One was blue, the other red, and the last was yellow.

"What is this?"

"Ever heard of NFPA?" He asked with a smug grin.

"The chemical hazards? Yeah?"

Smith put the yellow shot in my hands and he picked up his own, "It's a triangle of deadly chemicals sweetheart. One chart at a time yeah?" He winked as he downed his shot and I nearly dropped my glass when I saw his eyeballs roll around in his skull before returning to its normal position, "Agh, that's the stuff." He said in a huskier voice.

I looked at my shot then back up at Smith who seemed just fine if not a bit dazed from his intake. What was I afraid of? I couldn't die again so nothing bad should happen…right?

"Huh…don't pussy out Claudia." I muttered to myself and threw my head back along with the yellow shot. As soon as the liquid went down my throat I nearly fell out of my seat as my vision was morphed into a series of colors and swirls almost like a kaleidoscope. My head began to burn and my hands tingled as the strange sensation of blood rushing coursed throughout my arms. It was almost scary feeling my body move like it used to when I was alive. Even though I had been alive for 24 years before death it felt so foreign to me. As quickly as the strange sensation took hold of me it just as easily let me go and I was dead again, as in I felt absolutely nothing.

"Wow…that was crazy." My voice sounded huskier as well, as if I had sung nonstop for hours.

Smith nodded as he passed me the blue shot next, "So tell me about this whole killer getting away thing. Something to do with going to Spring Grove?"

I leaned back in my seat and shrugged as I swirled the glass of blue liquid inside, "Yeah but it's nothing important. I thought something was possible but I was too idiotic to realize it's impossible."

"What was it?" Smith pressed on.

I rolled my eyes, "Drop it Smith. It's stupid that's all."

"Well while we are drinking away some dangerous lab chemicals we can dish all the idiotic things we hate about death hm?" Smith smirked as he downed his blue shot and this time his eyes rolled and his hair began to stand up making me gape in awe.

After he recovered he groaned and slammed his glass upside down, "So?" he squeaked.

I chuckled, "Well. If you must know, since it's pointless, I thought it would be possible to tell someone above who my killer is so they can arrest him hence avenging my death. So I went to Spring Grove's newspaper publishing since they gathered news from above but ended up learning spiders, maggots, and birds are the only things going up. And the living can't hear them because they are animals and bugs." I raised my glass in the air almost sarcastically, "Cheers to this young and oblivious dead girl." I downed the shot and felt the sensation of blood coursing throughout my arms and this time my stomach as my head began to burn like fire. The flashing colors of red, green, and purple swirled through out my vision and I felt my hair prickled like a balloon being rubbed against your head. Just as quickly as it came, it went and I sighed.

Smith looked at me questionably as he held his glass of the red poison. The one I was sure would fuck me up. "Interesting idea. I'm sure you're not the first to have come up with such an accusation. Definitely not the last." He said.

"Well yippee for me. I'm not the dumbest then."

"Is it really that big of a deal to catch your killer when you're already dead?" Smith asked.

My hand tightened its hold on the glass, "I find it a pretty big fucking deal when I'm down here drinking hazardous chemicals with some guy I just met in an orgy filled hospital themed bar instead of doing chores around my apartment while studying for exams. You DIG mate?" I said angrily.

Smith chuckled humorlessly as his eyes set upon me in an almost predatory gaze, "I bet you would do anything to get back at the one who put you down here hm?" Smith said quietly enough for me alone to hear.

I stared at him for the longest time before nodding, "He took everything from me." I replied in a whisper.

"What if I told you there was a way to go above?" Smith arched his eyebrows as he brought the glass up to his lips but I stopped him by grabbing his hand.

"What are you saying?"

Smith was un-phased, "Did you want to know?"

"Don't mess with me. I've already dealt with enough today I don't need any more bullshit." I said.

Smith chuckled as he set the glass down on the table and gave me his undivided attention, "I have heard once upon a time that the dead had walked the earth for a single night."

"That can't be true. Even if it was it sounds like a tall tale that was shared long ago." I said unhappily. I gotta stop getting my hopes up.

Smith continued, "Ah but that's where your wrong Claudia. It really did happen. It was eras ago in a cemetery overseas where the dead was brought to the land of the living to perform some sort of ceremony I can't honestly say what it was."

"Why not?"

"I guess that part of the tale faded out over time. But the legends stand true."

"Have you been around that long to tell?" I asked.

"Were you listening earlier? I haven't been dead long. But I've communicated with quite a few people who come and go from this cemetery and this particular story has been told more than once to me."

I leaned forward, "So the dead walked the earth a long time ago. Why hasn't it happened again? That seems like the kind of thing I would read about in classes or watching on the news if it happened." I said.

"Do you think the dead would go up just to have a vacation girl? No. It happened once and only once because they went above in the first place. But the possibility is THERE." He insisted.

"Tell me something Smith. What else could you say that would make me believe the possibility of the dead going above based on a story you have heard once or twice? I can make something up on the spot and make it sound believable. I am an actor you know." I sat back in my seat and crossed my arms.

Smith lifted his glass once again but still kept his eyes on me, "I know the man who sent the dead upstairs."

My mouth dropped but before I could speak he downed the red drink and I groaned in frustration as I waited for him to recover from his momentary high. It took a lot longer this time but he finally came to yet I still had to wait for him to be able to speak again.

"So you know who sent the dead above? This whole thing doesn't make any sense." I said in frustration.

Smith coughed before speaking in a husky whisper, "A skeleton man came by here three years ago. He was visiting a cousin who moved here all the way from England and I took him out to see the sights. He told me of the time he went above eras ago and could hardly recall the tale himself. I thought he was pulling my leg but then he started talking about a man who is the ruler of the underworld. Someone you will read about in stories written down here and paintings that will catch your eye if you find them. He's as real as you and me and that's why I believe it."

"This man, the supposed ruler of the underworld, what makes you believe he's able to weld such a power?" I asked on the edge of my seat.

Smith hiccupped before muttering, "He…is the oldest dead person you will ever find here in the land of the dead. He knows all there is to know about death, up and over, around, and through. He has proven to possess certain powers and I wouldn't doubt he knows how to go above."

"That's incredible…" I gaped in astonishment.

"When the skeleton man told me about him I didn't believe it till I read him up in every book I could find about deaths history. He's in there alright. Centuries, if not eternities, later he is still around. He is deemed the ruler of the underworld and not many corpses down here know of him. He prefers it that way."

A small smile began to grow on my face, "Then…then he could have my answers. Of not going above then maybe how I could move on?" I started to get excited. Another lead on the same day to my possible vengeance! I just had to find this ruler of the underworld and I will either walk away with my answers or reporting Peter to the police.

I turned back to Smith who seems like he was on the verge of passing out, "Smith? Smith!"

"Mmm what?" He hiccupped.

"Smith, what is his name? Tell me his name!"

Smith hiccupped a few times before straightening up, "Elder Gutknecht. His name is Elder Gutknecht."

The name was so ancient, so foreign, it sounded like a beacon of hope all in its own. "Elder Gutknecht…I have to find him. He could have my answers." I looked up at Smith and saw he was out cold. I shook him up a bit and he woke with a jolt.

"Smith, where does he live? Is he somewhere in America?"

Smith cackled drunkenly as he shook his head, "That's a good one. As if it would be that easy. No, no, no little dead girl." Smith lolled his head from side to side before looking me in the eye, "Elder Gutknecht lives in a cemetery somewhere outside England. But no one knows specifically where. He likes to keep to himself and never sees anyone. The last time he was spotted was in the 1700's."

I chewed my lip in worry, "He lives in Europe? But if he hasn't been seen for that long what if he moved someplace else?"

"The dead either stay where their buried or "move on". I'm pretty sure an ancient being such as himself is sticking around his grave cause of some loyal death shit he has going on. So what are you going to do? Travel to Europe and bring back the answers to going above?" Smith sarcastically said.

I looked at my glass of red poison and decided against it. I didn't need to drown my sorrows into this. I have a new lead through Elder Gutknecht and I was going to seek it out, to hell with the cost of my actions. I wasn't going to sit around and be miserable for the rest of my time here. I stood up from the booth and walked around to help Smith sit up right, "Smith I have one more thing to ask."

"Hm?"

"I need to borrow that cross for a while. I need it to get me to Europe safely."

Smith shook his head, "You're actually going to go find him? That's crazy!"

"So is what you just told me but I have no choice. I'm not going to rot away like this. I'm going to get my vengeance and if Elder Gutknecht has a possibility of helping me then I'm going to go find him."

Smith sighed and clumsily yanked the cross over his neck and handed it to my stomach as if it were my hand, "H-here. But when you get back you owe me a real date."

"If I come back with the answers to go above I will date you for a week." I smiled as I took the cross and put it on with a new air to me. I was going to try again and if anyone knew me in life they will know in death that once I set my mind to something it was hard to make me give up.

After leaving Smith at his place to rest in peace for the night, I wrote him a note explaining everything we spoke about in case he forgets when he wakes up. I told him to keep my journey a secret and if everyone began to ask where I was that he should tell them I decided to seek out my grandmother who was buried in the next state over. Of course this was a lie, I never knew either of my grandmothers and wasn't even sure if they were dead or not. But I can't have everyone know what my true intentions are, if they did what if they tried to stop me and bring me back to the cemetery? I have already come this far.

I made it to my grave without being spotted by anyone I knew and went inside. Locking the front door, I ran upstairs to my room and pulled out a small red backpack from my closet. The perks that came with being dead, I didn't have to worry about having enough money to eat. I'm pretty sure I don't need a change of clothes but I'm bringing a few garments just in case something comes up. The doubloons and gold I collected over time was put into a glass jar and hidden within the pockets of a faded pink trench coat I had bought from a boutique. After I was satisfied with what I packed I zipped up my bag and tossed it over my shoulders. I have no idea how I'm going to hitch hike all the way to Europe but I'm dead so time was on my side. I walked down the stairs and went over in my mind what I might possibly need but couldn't think of anything of value. I should be good, right? As I walked down the hallway the photo of my family all together caught my attention. I turned back and starred at the sight of my living breathing parents and brother huddled together and smiling. Rosy cheeks and beating hearts…I missed that. I missed THEM. I swear if I can go above Peter is going to PAY. I grabbed the photo off the wall and stuffed the frame in my backpack before marching out of my dingy grave and locking it up. I didn't even look back as I walked down the street towards the alley ways that would keep me out of sight so no one could spot me leaving.

 _ **Three underground days later**_

"All aboard! Leaving Cleveland station in 5 minutes! No exceptions!" A conductor with half his body chopped off and wheeling around on a plank with wheels announced on an intercom. The stations were bustling with dead people of all shapes, sizes, and deaths. The deaths were more obvious than anything else I noticed. When living in a cemetery you grow accustomed to the people you meet and how "normal" they are, living in a nice grave, hanging out at the bar, maybe work a random job or two, then go back home. But out here I have never seen so many gruesome or weird deaths! At one point I saw a man leaning over to haul his luggage out of a compartment and when he stood back up his head was shrunk and tied like a voodoo doll! And that was only one of the stranger things I've seen since coming all the way out here. I looked down at my ticket and saw that I was in compartment 5 and was quickly running to find it before the train started pulling out. I dodged many people who were walking in my direction and nearly ran into a family of skeletons. I'd be damned if I made a skeleton family fall to pieces and miss my train because I had to help put them back together.

"All aboard!" The man announced and the trains whistle began to blow for the last time.

"No!" I freaked. I ran even faster, trying to find the number 5 compartment and started to see the train slowly move forward. I can't miss the train! This was the last train I had to take before reaching New York and I am not walking all that way! Finally, within my reach, I saw the compartment that said number 5 and I booked it to leap onto the stairs. The train, however, began to run a little faster and made it harder for me to catch up. I didn't have breath to run out of but that didn't mean I wasn't fast enough to catch this train! Shit!

"Heave-HO!"

"WHAT!?" I was suddenly yanked in the air by the back collar of my jacket and pulled onto the moving platform of the train. I turned to see a heavy set man with a more purplish face then blue and he was chuckling down at me, "Nearly missed the train now did we?"

"Uh, yeah, thanks. I would have made it but I got held up at the ticket booth."

"Well lucky for you to make it in the nick of time. Well come on in. wouldn't want you falling off out here. We stop for nothing." We walked inside the train and the man took my ticket, clipping it, then handing it back to me. "You find yourself a seat and relax now missy. We will be getting to New York within a few hours."

"Thank you sir." I nodded as I walked down the aisle to find an open seat. The train wasn't very crowded so I was able to snag an empty seat by the window. I sighed and set my back pack beside me and gazed out the window as the station and Lake View cemetery began to fade away in the distance.

On the first day I started my travels I didn't know where to go and was at a lost. Instead of heading to Spring Grove I took a different route to another cemetery outside Columbus where I met a woman who told me about the underworld train stations. To say the least, I was baffled that there was other means of transportation down here than just walking. She told me trains were never always around and it took eras after the first train was invented in the world above to be brought down here to the land of the dead. Maybe someday cars will be a norm around here, if they haven't already been brought down here, that way I can get myself a means of transportation. On the second day I had made my way to Cleveland on a train from a cemetery in Charleston, West Virginia, and had traveled all day. This was the last train I would need to take to New York and from there I would take a boat all the way to Europe and was sure that journey would take a very long time. Time may be different but traveling oceans is never a short trip.

I looked ahead when I heard a small commotion at the front of the train. A women with bouncy blonde curls and wearing a red dress was being rather snarky with a man trying to sell her magazines with the latest gossip from the world above. Of course, I learned awhile back that there were people who were sleazy in life and continue to be in death, such as selling fake articles about celebrity gossip in the world above they couldn't possibly get. Unless they knew this Elder Gutknecht man then I call bull shit. The girl scoffed in the man's face then strutted down the aisles, not even looking at the people who starred at her. I had to admit, she was rather pretty with her tight red dress and fur coat draped glamorously over her slender shoulders. Before I knew it she sat across from me and sighed in annoyance.

"The nerve of men. Claiming a women to be dumb enough to fall for such a childish trick just because it involves fashion magazines." She huffed as she pulled out a long golden pipe that looked like it could afford my apartments rent in life. She lit it and smoke began to float along her head, making her look like a dream in a cloud.

"I suppose I should offer you one hm?" still not looking at me the beautiful women held out another pipe from her purse to me.

"Oh no thank you." I quickly said.

"Suit yourself." She put it back and gazed out the window. I noticed her eyes were the prettiest shade of blue even though they were faded by death.

"Um, I'm Claudia." I said nervously for some reason. The women had an intimidating aura and I wasn't sure if she was going to greet me as well or bite my head off.

She didn't even look my way, "Sierra. Pleasure." She took a drag from the pipe but since she had no air the smoke slowly came out of her nose as if the inside of her head had a fire starting.

"Are you on your way to New York as well?" I asked.

"Yes. Where else would you want to be?" She snorted as if it were obvious.

"What do you mean?"

"Death can be so tragically…" she struggled to find a word.

"Sad?"

"Boring. Quite boring actually." She shook her head as she pulled out a tube of red nail polish and began to paint her left hand. "I'm guessing you're new to the dead."

"Is it obvious?" I asked.

"Anyone who has ridden the underworld trains knows to never be late instead of running the platform like a lunatic. Also the way you look at every dead person as if they came out of a horror movie. News flash, we would all be in a horror movie looking the way we do." She glanced my way before returning to her subtle brush strokes over her rotted finger nails.

I nodded as I looked back to the window and she continued speaking, "I have been dead for quite some time and moving to New York was the best decision I have ever made. Why on earth should fine women such as ourselves rot away in a boring grave in a boring cemetery for eternity when there's a bustling city of life in death?" She waved her dead hand to help the red paint dry then proceeded to her other hand.

"I'm only going to catch a boat to Europe." I said.

"Now that is interesting. Do tell." She still didn't look up. I wasn't sure if she was serious or sarcastic. I continued anyway.

"I'm looking for someone and am not sure if I will find him. But I've got nothing else to keep me going and I will always wonder if I don't."

"Is he a lover or something?" Sierra said.

"What? No, no, you could say I'm doing research and he is the key to confirming my theories." I said.

Sierra pursed her lips, "You're quite the actress. I almost believed you."

"But I'm not lying-"

"The truth can be bent indeed. You did it quite well. You should come out and audition for Broadway before you go on your little boat ride."

"Now listen here I….did you say Broadway?" I said.

Sierra finished painting her other hand and she looked up with an arched eyebrow, "That's what I said. Broadway is in New York City. Even in the land of the dead, the world of theatre does not perish."

"You're an actress?" I gasped.

"One of the leading female roles in this year's production of Jekyll and Hyde. I had the last two days off and was visiting my wretched mother in Cleveland. It's always such a pleasure when parents die before you but then you get down here and there they are. Waiting. Waiting to nag you to hell." She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

I ignored the strange scenario, "I had no idea that Broadway was brought down here to the land of the dead. That's…that's…"

"A dream perhaps? Yes it is. Especially for us young ladies who lived for the stage but was cut from that too soon." She suddenly yanked my hand away and started painting my finger nails red as well. It was strange how comfortable she became with me but I did enjoy the girl talk.

"You're an actress?" She said.

"Yes, I also sing. I was hoping to land auditions for big production in my life before my-"

"Inevitable demise?"

"Yeah that. How did you go?" I asked, hoping I didn't reach a touchy subject.

"It was quite the scandal. I cheated on my boyfriend with his friend, he found out and demanded I choose him or the other. Of course I chose neither. I wanted to move to New York in life and didn't have time to be shackled to a man and be a house wife. I guess they thought it was ok to murder me and throw my body into the woods for the animals if I wasn't going to choose."

"My god…" I said.

"I know. Moronic scumbags is what they are. But that's alright. They are cozied up in a jail cell for the past 44 years and it will be 45 this year." She made a devious smile with her red lips and for a moment I wanted to imitate her glamour.

"What of you." She demanded more the asked.

"Nothing…scandalous like you. I was mugged in a parking lot by some dude I had the same class with but never spoke to. He took my truck and purse after stabbing me three times with a dollar store switch blade."

"I figured as much by that shiny little thing in your stomach." She glanced down at my stomach where the blade protruded. "Yup. There's the battle scars." I joked.

"I don't like men if you noticed. They are disgusting."

"Well not all of them are." I said.

"Of course not all. But in the real world? Forget about it. I can't even dress the way I want without having some jerk follow me home." She rolled her eyes as she finished painting both of my hands.

I nodded, "Well…at least you're beautiful." I joked.

Sierra chuckled and looked up at me with her full attention, "Oh honey, beautiful things don't ask for attention."

She just got cooler.

Least to say, we had a nice conversation where I learned a lot about New York having a majority of sacred grounds and upscale graves to rent and live in. Even more so about Broadway and how Sierra moved away from her home grave and has been an actress since the 1960's. Within the next few hours we arrived in New York City.

"Thank you for taking me to the docks. I wouldn't have been able to find them myself. New York is the biggest cemetery I have ever been to." I said as Sierra and I walked down the board walk where a large building stood at the end where I could buy a boat ticket to England. When we arrived I was in awe with the scared grounds we rode into. The city of New York itself wasn't entirely a cemetery, but like Smith said, if there were enough dead people around in one place it would become sacred grounds. New York was a BIG one.

"You're sure you don't wanna stick around for a while? We can check out Broadway."

It pained me to shake my head, "I can't. Not now anyways, I really have to go to Europe and find this man. He can have the answers to questions I've been seeking for a long time now."

Sierra puffed her pipe as she adjusted her fur coat, "Yeah, yeah, self-discovery and what not."

"Sure let's go with that." I muttered as we walked up to the ticketing building. "Well it was amazing meeting you and learning a lot more about New York. Especially Broadway for the dead."

Sierra nodded, "When you're done with this little adventure of yours you should come see me perform in Jekyll and Hyde."

I smiled, "I'd like that." Gripping my back pack I turned around and walked into the building, not looking back. Even if this whole journey was a waste at least I know now that there was something here to fall back on. Maybe I did have a shot at starting over again what with New York being relatively the same in the land of the dead as it was for the living. But I couldn't stop. I had to know if there was a way to go above, my vengeance was so close.

After an hour or so waiting in line and paying a good chunk of what was left of my doubloons and gold, I was sitting on a large decayed ship setting sail for Europe. Some of the sailor's walking around deck had mentioned this journey to take about three weeks of crossing the ocean. I heard it was dangerous for the sea was haunted with lost souls who never found peace. I had to make sure to stay far away from the edge of the ship so I wouldn't risk falling in. All in all, I was relieved I was finally on my way to England. A part of me was excited to see it for the first time, even though I would be seeing it in death, but I wouldn't forget why I was going.

I will find Elder Gutknecht. And I will go to the land of the living.


End file.
